Bucket cleaner



y 1 J. F. LINDELL EI'AL 2,944,353

BUCKET CLEANER Original Filed March 11, 1955 0 D 1 0. 0 0 m0 n u -0 Illa W0 .//0 w a INVENTORS ATTORNEY,

United States Patent BUCKET CLEANER Original application Mar. 11, 1955, Ser. No. 49am,

'n'ow' Patent No. 2,841,895, dated July 8, 1958. Di-' vided and this application Sept. 3, 1957, Ser. No. 681,615

Claims. (Cl. 37-'-91) The present invention relates generally to the, art of bucket cleaners for earth moving equipment and more particularly to an improved bucket'cleaner for insuring the removal of excavated material from the excavating bllickets of rotary wheel type trenching machines and the li e.

This application is a division of our co-pending application, Serial No. 493,692, entitled, Wheel Type TrenchingMachine, filed on March 11, 1955, now Patent No. 2,841,895.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide an improved instrumentality for removing the earth from the interiors of an endless series of constantly advancing excavating buckets. Another object of the presentinvention is toprovide an improved bucket cleaner having an automatierelease when the buckets f to be cleaned become abnormally loaded.

A further object of the. present invention is the provision of an improved bucket load removing rig for rotary wheel trenching machines and 'the like wherein a cleaning member coacting with the interiors of the successive excavating buckets is normally frictionallymaintained in active position with any desired degree of frictional resistance, but is quickly releasable during abnormal operating conditions.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved bucket cleaner of the type described having means requiring no movable parts for holding it in a working position duringnormal operation.

These and other objects of the invention are fulfilled in a manner which becomes apparent from the following detailed description whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentary side view of a por tion of an excavating wheel and its support means showing a bucket cleaning device embodying the present invention in solid lines while cooperating with an advancing bucket, and in dot-and-dash lines while in an inactive position;-

Fig. 2 is an isometric view of an improved bucket cleaning rig embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 3 is an isometric view of an attachment for use with the device and rig of Figs. 1 and 2.

In the drawing, the improved bucket cleaner of the present invention is generally identified by the numeral 22 and, in Fig. 1, is shown relative to an exemplary excavating machine comprising a rotary wheel of the type having a pair of spaced coaxial ring gears 11 peripherally interconnected by a plurality of spaced excavating buckets 12 and supported upon cantilever frame means 16 extending from a vehicle (not shown). During rotation in response, for example, to a driven spur gear (not shown) engaging the teeth of ring gear :11, this type of wheel is generally guided by a plurality of rollers l9 riding upon the internal annular surface 20 of ring gears 11. Rollers 19 are preferably journalled in bearings 69 abutment by the springs 80. The upper end of the ejector "ice.

and may be provided with an annular end flange 70. Interconnecting the several rollers 19 within each ring gearll are struts 61 which may be provided with suitable length adjusting means, such as bolt and clamping nut 63. Generally ring gears 11 are provided with annular side plates 40 as support therefor and are transversely supported by suitable beams 59 by means of rollers 19.

;As illustrated in Fig. 2, bucket cleaner 22 is of angular formation and has forwardly extending suspension arms 76 swingably attached by means of a pivot rod 77 to a plate 78 which is resilientlyrurged against an angle iron 79 secured to the frame beams 59, by means of coil springs 80 embracing bolts 81 and coacting with the rear of the plate 78 and with washers 82 which are adjustable along the bolts 81 with the aid of nuts 83. By adjusting the nuts v83 along the bolts 81, the pressure with which the plate 78 is normally held against the angle iron 79 may be readily varied, and the medial portion of the ejector 2-2 is provided with a ledge 84 which coacts with a fixed abutment 85 mounted upon the frame beams 59 and which ledge is normally held in engagement with the 2'2 remote from the pivot rod 77 has, a series of laterally spaced prongs 86 firmly attached thereto, and the successive buckets 12 are normally adapted to travel over and past these prongs with the usual bucket bars passing through the spaces between the prongs 86, as depicted in solid lines in Fig. 31. However, if rocks or other abnormal substances become lodged in any of the advancing buckets 12, the entire ejector assemblage will be forced i. rearwardl'y by the pressure exerted against the prongs 8 6,

until the. ledge 8'4Iis moved off of the abutment 85, whereupon the ejector will drop into the dot-and-dash line. inactive position against the fixed stop 66 as shown in Fig' 'll'jjj i' Wlien the ejector22 has been thrown into inactive position the machine may be stopped for removal of the abnormal substance from within the buckets 12, and the bucket cleaner may also be restored to active position so that ledge 84 engagesv abutment S5 with the aid of a cable 88 and hooks 89, such as illustrated in Fig. 2, in any suitable manner such as by hooking the cable to a bucket and running the wheel in reverse. If the trenching unit is being utilized in gumbo soil or other similar earth conditions, the aforementioned bucket rods may be omitted and a material removing plate 90 such as illustrated in Fig. 3 may be secured to the ejector prongs 86 with the aid of cleats 91 attached to the plate 90 thereby closing the gaps between the prongs. The safety release for the ejector 22 will then function the same as when the rods 74 are used, in the event that an abnormal condition of operation arises, thereby protecting the trench,- ing mechanism against possible damage at all times.

The adjustable springs which frictionally retain the ejector 22 in active position may be set to produce safe release of this ejector when subjected to abnormal pressure, thus making the entire unit flexibly adaptable for safe operation under variable operating conditions.

It should be understood that it is not desired to limit this invention to the exact details of construction and operation herein specifically shown and described, for various modifications within the scope of the appended claims may occur to persons skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In a trenching machine, a vehicle, an endless series of excavating buckets movable along a definite path near an end of said vehicle, a frame supporting said bucket series from said vehicle and having a fixed abutment thereon, a bodily movable cleaning rake for said buckets means for urging said rake into latching engagement with said abutment.

2. In a trenching machine, a vehicle, a rigid excavating wheel located near an end of said vehicle and having an endless series of peripheral buckets, a frame movably supporting said wheel from said vehicle and having thereon a fixed abutment extending transversely through the wheel, a bodily and pivotally movable cleaning rake for the interiors of said buckets having avledge portion frictionaliy engaging said abutment, pivotal suspension means for said rake movablymounted on said frame, and resilientmeans coacting with said pivotal suspension means for urging the rake into engagement with said abutment with predetermined force.

3. In a rotary wheel-bucket type excavating machine having a support and a plurality of excavating buckets, movable in a predeterminable path relative to said sup port, a bucket cleaning attachment, pivotal suspension means for said attachment movably mounted on .said support, an arm portion of said attachment adapted to extend into the buckets as they move in said path, a fixed abutment defined on said support, a ledge defined on said arm, said ledge frictionally engaging said abutment for latching said attachment in a working position within the buckets; spring biased means coacting with said pivotal suspension means to maintain with a predetermined force said attachment in said latched Working position, said attachment being bodily movable in response to a force in excess of said predetermined force out of latching engagement with said abutment into an idle position out of the buckets, and stop means defined on said 'support for positioning said attachment when in an idle position. v

4. For use with rotary Wheel bucket type excavating machines having a support and a plurality of excavating buckets movable in a predetermined path relative to said support, a bucket cleaning attachment adapted for pivotal suspension on a movable mounting on said support comprising: an angular arm portion when in a latched working position adapted to extend into the buckets as they travel their path; friction means defined on said support, said friction means operatively associated with said arm for maintaining said arm in said latched working position; and spring biased means operatively connecting said pivotal suspension mounting to said support, said last mentioned means being responsive to a predetermined reactant force upon said arm for allowing bodily movement of said arm portion out of said latched position into anidle position.

5. 'For use with rotary wheel bucket type excavating machines having a support and a plurality ofvexcavating buckets movable in a predetermined path relative to said support, a bucket cleaning attachment adapted for pivotal mounting relative to said support comprising: an angular arm portion when in a latched working position adapted to extend into the buckets as they travel their path; a base portion, said arm portion being pivotally connected to said base portion; a fixed abutment defined on said support; a ledge defined on the inner surface of said arm portion, said ledge frictionally engaging said abutment for maintaining said arm portion in said latched working position; and spring biased means adapted for continuously urging said ledge into engagement with said abutment with 'a predetermined force, said last named means comprising a compression coil spring, an elongated bolt disposed axially through said spring and adapted for securing said base portion to the support, and adjustable locking means 'for compressing said spring to provide said predetermined force, said spring biased means being responsiveto a reactant force upon said arm portion'in excess of said predeterminedforce for allowing movement of said'base portion away from saidsupport whereby said attachment bodily moves out of latching engagement'with said abutment allowing said arm portion to V pivot out of said bucket into an idle position.

Franks Dec. 30, 1924 Penote July 11, 1939 

